Is this chorizo fresh, cured, fermented - or all three??!

[nealeholl]

I am keen to make some Spanish style "cooking" chorizo. I have made lots of Salamis before, and regularly use starter cultures for a fully dried sausage. However I'm not sure whether these softer, fresher styles are actually fermented at all - there's no real "lactic" taste to them. Are they more likely to just be made fresh with some curing salt, and dried for a few days?

Any suggestions - and better still, recipes would be gratefully received. With apologies to those of a sensitive disposition, here's a photo of a supermarket product that shows what style of product I'm after:


photo by nealeholl, on Flickr

Sainsburys describe the product as "a spicy CURED pork sausage". Made with 108g of pork per 100g - so obviously dried a bit.

[manfran]

Ha! Great question...and if you get one single answer from here, I'll be astonished!

My two cents though, is that a 'cooking chorizo' is one that possibly didn't make the grade as a proper chorizo. As you say, they've obviously been dried a bit, but would you cut off a chunk and eat it out of the packet.

My guess, is that if you want to make a 'cooking chorizo' using hog casings, instead of the 8 days hanging (or whatever your set up takes), put them up for half the time, so that they set and that the colour/taste is uniform, and then just cook it from there. You probably won't want to try that one fresh!!

Some chorizo are also smoked

[SteveW]

Are they to be used like a Mexican chorizo? Broken down and more like spicy mincemeat?

[nealeholl]

Are they to be used like a Mexican chorizo? Broken down and more like spicy mincemeat?

Not particularly - I'd just grill or fry them - possibly might slice open and "butterfly" them before frying to get some crunchiness going on.

[vagreys]

Based on the ingredients and product info from the Sainsbury's site:

Use by: see front of pack. Keep refrigerated. Once opened, use within 3 days and do not exceed the use by date. Do not freeze.

This sausage is guaranteed fresh for a month, but is recommended to be used within 3 days of opening. It contains sodium nitrite. The packaging is not typical for a dry-cured product. This appears to be a semi-dry, uncooked product.

There are two classes of chorizo in Spain: fresh, raw sausage, and cured. I'm not aware of a Spanish equivalent to the loose, crumbly, fatty fresh Mexican chorizo. "Chorizo" is a generic term for sausage, as well as being a type. Fresh chorizos need to be cooked like any other fresh sausage. Cured chorizo may be semi-dry or dry, depending on the style and location. There are a wide range of chorizos and seasonings - about as many as there are cities, towns and villages where they are made. All can be used for cooking.

[wheels]

I guess they can be said to be used like Mexican, in that they need to be cooked.

Looking at the ingredients declaration I'd guess that it's dried to lose 10 - 15% of it's weight. However, the declaration is 'iffy' it should list ingredients in order of amounts used. It lists paprika 3% above salt, but then says in the analysis, that there's 4.2gm salt in 100gm product - 4.2%!

It says that there's 108gm pork per 100gm product - with a sausage of 93% pork at 80/20VL, this equates to 14% drying according to the FSA calculator.

Phil

[larry]

Chorizo for cooking where I am is usally fully cooked, and is used in paella and such. I'm in the U.S., and if it is fully cooked, it will say so on the label. I've made cooked chorizo, which I cooked by smoking, and it turned out right for using as an ingredient. It is different than raw, mexican type chorizo, which is usually cooked like loose ground meat, although I have enjoyed it in link form.

Alternatively it could be a softer cured product, which would esentially be hung for less time, but still safe to eat due to the curiing process. I've tried using fully dried chorizo in cooking, and unless you cook it forever, like in soups or stews, it is tough and rubbery.

[porro]

This is, as far as I can see, a chorizo semicurado. Used a lot in the north of Spain, often lightly smoked and hot or "sweet", and never to be eaten raw.

[yotmon]

Hi Porro, Buenos dias y como estas ? Do you know of any 'regional' recipes for Chorizo, preferably the cooking variety as I enjoy them in stews with white beans and black pudding - can't remember the name of the dish though.

All the best Yotmon.

[onewheeler]

Fabadas Asturianas?

This site http://ileychorizos.tripod.com/id2.html has loads of recipes although it's in Spanish and has awful navigation.

Martin/

[yotmon]

Cheers Martin - that's the one ! I couldn't remember if it was a Galician or an Austurian dish. I'll have a browse of your link to see whats on offer.

Thanks.

Ste.

[Greyham]

I make both a cooking chorizo and a fully cured chorizo and chorizo fresh chorizo burger.
The only diffference between all of them is the cure. Recipe for all same
in order 1# 2# and pinch saltpetre
Cant share recipe though sorry

[SteveW]

Now that's just teasing us

[Greyham]

so sorry but took me years to perfect.....

[DiggingDogFarm]

It must be a masterpiece!


~Martin